Italy : ‘He did it to save lives’ – migrants fight to save a mayor

Domenico Lucano revitalised his small town in Calabria by welcoming foreigners. Now he has been detained by the state

In 2009, shortly after his re- election as mayor and several years after he embarked on a policy of welcoming migrants as a means of reversing depopulation in his town, Domenico Lucano was shot at through the window of a restaurant where he was eating with friends . As if to ram home their opposition to his plans, the local mafia also poisoned two of his dogs.

Unperturbed, Lucano responded by installing a billboard at the entrance of the town, saying: “Riace – a town of hospitality.” The sign remains today, as does one on the main square that lists the 20 countries people have come from – Eritrea, Somalia, Nigeria, Pakistan, to name a few.

Riace, a tiny hilltop town in Italy’s southern Calabria region, has become famous for its much-lauded model of integration, which began in the late 1990 s and contin...